U.S. Junior Championship - Round 9 Recap

by Denes Boros  Gorti won the Girls’ Section with one round to spare, but there was still a lot of action in the last round in both sections! U.S Girls’ Junior Championship Read more > Akshita Gorti already won the tournament, but she arrived hungry for some more chess! She played Apurva Virkud, and even though she was Black she took the initiative early on with 11…Ba6! and 12…b5!. Virkud, however, fought hard and managed to hold, even though Akshita Gorti was trying hard to win her last game. A nice fighting game from both players, especially from Akshita, playing for a win even though the tournament was already decided! Maggie Feng came second, as she managed to draw a difficult game against Bykovtsev. Emily Nguyen had a good chance for second place, but she had to console herself with a tied third place as she lost to Carissa Yip after her Queen got trapped in an equal position.  Thalia Cervantes also tied for third place, just like Annie Wang, but Emily Nguyen was awarded the third place due to better tiebreakers. Thalia won a nice game against Eswaran. Thalia Cervantes equalized early with Black, and she managed to slowly push her opponent off the board. A nice technical win from Cervantes! The last game of the whole tournament was played by Annie Wang and Rachel Ulrich. Both of them played a fantastic fighting tournament, and their personal encounter wasn’t any different! Annie Wang played the famous Breyer variation, and even though she was initially slightly worse, after hours of play she took control of the game. Rachel Ulrich didn’t give up however, and fought hard until they reached a Queen endgame. After the long struggle Annie ran into a perpetual check, but one slip was enough and it seemed that Ulrich missed the draw. At that moment, Ulrich found the fantastic resource 80.g3+ Kf3  and she came with the move of the tournament, Qf2!!, Kxf2 Stalemate! A wonderful display of the fighting spirit of the tournament! U.S. Junior Championship Everyone expected a swift finish with a dominating Troff, even though Liang was half point behind, Kayden seemed to be in position to become the U.S. Junior Champion. Chandra although not the mathematical favorite to win it all, was the first to drop out of contention. He was facing Checa and needed to win to keep his winning chances alive. Chandra did manage to get a preferable position, but it was extremely difficult to convert the advantage into a win, and the players agreed to a draw after the repetition of moves.  That left the leader Kayden Troff, and his rival Awonder Liang to duke it out for the U.S. Junior Championship title. Troff did not change his tactics, and played his usual lines, but his opponent Mika Brattain was very well prepared against Troff. Troff wasn’t prepared for this variation and was clearly in trouble and it was clear that Brattain won the opening phase. Meanwhile, Liang also had to get acquainted with a type of position he had not seen before. Michael Brown played the Berlin Defence, and an early d6. Liang did not seem to be familiar, so it was clear that there would be a long struggle! Hours later Mika Brattain played the courageous 16.d5!, which seemed to me to be the strongest and most natural. He followed it up with energetic play, centralizing his pieces with 18. Rad1! and 19 e5!, Troff was forced into defensive. At this moment Liang’s position wasn’t clear, but Brown seemed to be at loss and it was increasingly difficult to find plans for both sides! Getting closer to time trouble, Mika Brattain launched his final attack; it was just too strong, and even though Troff tried to defend it, the defensive front eventually collapsed and Mika Brattain won against Troff! This was the golden moment for Liang, as a draw would force a tiebreaker match with Troff, but a win would mean the Championship Title! Liang doubled up on  the ”e” line and after Brown’s inaccurate move 34…e4, Liang opened up the position with the powerful 34.f3! At that moment it was clear, with precise play, Awonder Liang was going to win. Precise he was, and after some nervy play from both sides, Liang broke through with the knight maneuver Ne2-d4-f5! putting decisive pressure on Brown’s position. Brown resisted heroically, but Liang was unstoppable and with confident play, he converted his advantage! Liang, with this clutch win, won the 2017. U.S. Junior Championship! Troff came second and Rufieng Li and Akshat Chandra tied for third. Akshat Chandra became third on account of his better tiebreaker. A great U.S. Junior Championship ended with a dramatic final. Troff and Akshat Chandra played good chess, but Liang proved to be the strongest, as he managed to win the most critical games at the crucial moments! The Champions of the 2017 U.S. Junior Championships are Akshita Gorti and Awonder Liang. Follow the U.S Girls' Junior Championship  and U.S. Junior Championship live on ChessBomb

U.S. Junior Championship - Round 8 Recap

by Denes Boros  We arrived at the most critical part of the tournament, so naturally there were high stakes and tension; mistakes could occur, but some flourish in these conditions and create brilliancies! U.S Girls’ Junior Championship  Akshita Gorti went into the round with a one and a half point lead, but faced her tournament rival, Maggi Feng with White! Maggie Feng opted for a Stonewall Dutch, but Gorti was more versed in the nuances of the position. Gorti played 8.Qc2!, and Feng replied with the standard, but dubious 8…Nbd7. Gorti did not hesitate and she took on d5 and transposed into a favorable position, as Maggie Feng could not avoid the exchange of the dark-squared bishops. Gorti had a nagging advantage, but one move spoiled it. After the inaccurate 22.Re7, Maggie found Kf8! and repetition was unavoidable, as otherwise White’s rook would get trapped. A disappointing result for Akshita Gorti, as at this point she could not have known that her draw, would clinch her the tournament!  Read more > Emily Nguyen was playing Rachel Ulrich, and even though White was pressing most of the time and she even got close to winning, after a lot of piece exchanges the position transposed into a drawn endgame! This means that Akshita Gorti has won the Girls’ Section with one round to spare! There is still a fight for second and third place, so winning in the last rounds is extremely important! Thalia Cervantes and Annie Wang did just that, and they join the fight for the medals!  U.S. Junior Championship  Round 8 was the most dramatic round of the Open Section, as Troff is chased by Liang who is just half a point behind, while Chandra is a full point behind Troff. Troff showed deep home preparation against Josh Colas, but then suddenly tiredness kicked in and one move almost cost him dearly; Troff was calculating the moves Bg6, and Be4 and did the classic mistake of making a third move instead! 22. g3 was immediately punished by Josh Colas with 22…Qa5!, and Troff had to find a way to save the game! Meanwhile, the other big match between Chandra and Liang was unfolding. Chandra surprised Liang with the Reti, but after 2-3 counter surprises, Liang was the one caught in a trap; Black played 5…Ba6!? hoping for a fight, but Chandra cleverly transposed to classical Petrosian waters with the strong 6. Qb3! and Liang had to fight for the equality for the rest of the game. Fortunately for Liang, he managed to survive, even though Chandra had a moment when he could have won the game. Chandra played 33.Bxh5, believing that he would win a piece, but missed the strong defensive move 35…Qe4! which gave ample play for Liang to hold the position. Chandra should have played 32.Bf3 and then 33.Nd5! with decisive threats. In Troff’s game, fortune did seem to favor the brave as he found the best way to put up a fight, and shockingly Troff had enough counterplay for the lost piece! Colas chose a safe continuation, but his move turned out to be slightly premature and Troff again had a chance to win! Troff tried to win, but Josh Colas was defending superbly today, and managed to draw against the leader, Kayden Troff! We are about to witness a dramatic last round, as the situation did not change with round 8; Liang is still only a half point behind and if he manages to win he can force a tiebreak with Kayden Troff for the Junior Championship Title! The commentators, Tatev Abrahamyan, Alejandro Ramirez and Cristian Chirila, mentioned in the live coverage that the top three players of the Open Section only lost one game altogether!  Troff will have good chances going into the last round to win the tournament, but he will be facing Mika Brattain with Black, while Liang will be facing the in-form Michael Brown. Chandra will have a tough job, as he needs to win against Checa with Black, but that would still give him a theoretical chance to win the Junior Championship! Akshita Gorti, with her draw today against Maggie Feng, has already secured her title. Akshita Gorti is officially the Girls Junior Champion of 2017!  The last round starts at 11 am CT, and we will find out, who will be the 2017 U.S. Junior Champion!   Follow the U.S Girls' Junior Championship  and U.S. Junior Championship live on ChessBomb

U.S. Junior Championship - Round 5 Recap

by Denes Boros  Round 5 started off with multiple heavyweight battles: Michael Brown against Ruifeng Li, Akshat Chandra against Andrew Tang, and in the Girls’ Section the leading Emily Nguyen faced her tournament rival, Akshita Gorti. U.S. Junior Championship Both Michael Brown and Chandra played a Catalan type of structure, and surprisingly both of them had a slightly better position against Ruifeng Li and Andrew Tang respectively. Read more > Tang chose to force some complications, which favored Chandra; but, in time trouble, Chandra could not find his way in the complications. After the time control, both players agreed to a draw in an equal position.   In the other game, Brown had a slight advantage, but Ruifeng Li, with good strategic moves, gradually equalized. The live commentators, Alejandro Ramirez and Cristian Chirila, were expecting a draw around move 30, but Ruifeng had different plans! After some shuffling of pieces, Ruifeng sacrificed a piece with 38…Nxf4!? which was objectively dubious, but kept the game going. Brown wasn’t impressed and managed to stabilize his position. Brown could have collected the point with 54.Rc5! and Bc3!, but he inexplicably wasted precious tempi with 51.Kg2 and Kf3. Those two tempi was all that Ruifeng needed, and he comfortably forced a  draw after starting a pawn-avalanche with the moves g5-g4! The leader, Kayden Troff, faced Bovey Liu with black. Bovey Liu decided to avoid mainstream Najdorf theory, and played Bb5+. He did not manage to surprise Troff, as after the clever intermezzo, 14. dxe5 c4!, it was Troff who was calling the shots. After that, Troff soon captured the bishop-pair and a pawn and soon after, the game! Troff can be happy with his play as his nearest rivals Liang and Checa are trailing him a full point behind! U.S Girls’ Junior Championship The biggest matchup of the day was between Emily Nguyen and Akshita Gorti. Gorti was chasing Nguyen with a half point, so she had to do her best to catch up to Nguyen. They followed the game played by Wesley So against Duda, but Nguyen made the inaccurate move 10…e4 and followed it up with the dubious Qh4. Gorti took some time to find the reply, but after her accurate Bb5+, Nguyen’s position crumbled. Nguyen fought hard afterwards, but her position could not be saved. With this win, Gorti took the lead from Nguyen. In the Junior Championships, it’s important to keep on fighting as upsets can happen, and after accumulating some points here and there, you might find yourself on the top of the scoreboard! That is precisely what happened to Maggie Feng and Annie Wang. Annie Wang played a positional 5.Bg5!? variation against Bykovtsev. Bykovtsev tried to untangle her position, but Annie Wang was playing really well today, and after some great positional moves (15. g4! , 26, f3!) she managed to outplay her opponent! With this win, Annie Wang is in near contention for first place! Speaking of big winners, Maggie Feng, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, didn’t give any chances to her opponent today!  Maggie Feng was playing Thalia Cervantes and the opening featured the g3 Gruenfeld, which positions are well-known from the famous Karpov-Kasparov matches. Maggie Feng played extremely precise chess today, her moves 15. Qb3! and the prophylactic 16.Rc2! made a deep impression. Thalia Cervantes tried to untangle, but today Maggie Feng proved irresistible. Maggie Feng won the game on move 33, and now she is a mere half point behind Akshita Gorti! Troff is leading the Open Section with a full point lead ahead of Liang and Checa, while in the Girls’ Section, Gorti is half a point ahead of Nguyen and Feng. Tomorrow is a rest day, but play will resume Friday.  Follow the U.S Girls' Junior Championship  and U.S. Junior Championship live on ChessBomb

U.S. Junior Championships - Round 1 Recap

A day after the opening ceremony, where players were given presents and some good advice from Tony Rich, the tournament director, the players were ready for the first round of the  2017 U.S. Junior Championships!  U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship What a first round it was; Akshita Eswaran essayed the Benoni against defending champion Emily Nguyen, and Thalia Cervantes went all-out against Agata Bykovtsev, with the ultra-sharp Four Pawn’s Attack! Emily Nguyen reacted well against Akshita Eswaran’s Benoni and gained the upper hand. Nguyen played 14. Qb3! targeting the weak Black Queenside, and after the inaccurate move 15…g5, she uncorked the typical Benoni break with 16.e5! and 17.d6! The rest was simple, and Emily Nguyen won her first round game! The game between Thalia Cervantes and Agata Bykovtsev was one of the most intriguing games of round one. Thalia Cervantes, who came to the Junior Championship straight from the Pan American Championships, went all out against Bykovtsev. Bykovtsev, as she told Cristian Chirila after the game, thought that 14…b5!? was part of her preparation. In any case, it turned out to be slightly dubious, as Thalia duly accepted the pawn offer and produced the fantastic rook lift 20. Ra3! and 21. Rg3! gaining a sizable advantage! She was well on her way to win, when she captured the wrong piece. 32. Bd4! would have won, but she played 32.Bc5+ allowing Bykovtsev back into the game, and after another mistake by Cervantes, Bykovtsev took over!  It was a dramatic game, were Thalia Cervantes showed some powerful play in the middlegame, and Agata Bykovtsev, showed great fighting skills, which helped her bring the point home.   ”I expect blood!” exclaimed Tatev Abrahamyan in the live commentary with fellow commentator Alejandro Ramirez, right before the start of the round. Right she was, as the player’s from both section came with the same intentions: to win at all costs! U.S. Junior Championship Ruifeng Li, the heavy rating favorite of the Open section, played his trademark move 1.b3!? against Mika Brattain. Brattain, however, wasn’t impressed by Larsen’s famous move and built up a solid position against Li. After few hours of play, Li managed to gain some space on the Queenside, but that was compensated by Bratain’s counterplay on the Kingside. Li had a slightly better position, but after Mika Brattain’s 24…Nh8! it was increasingly more difficult to make progress. Ruifeng Li, conscious of his advantage refused the repetition of moves, but ran into a fantastic sacrifice 27…Nf4! by Brattain, and the tables turned! Brattain was calling the shots afterwards, but after missing several wins, the ever-resourceful Ruifeng Li managed to escape; with a perpetual check! The most contested matchups based on ratings were between Troff - Tang and Brown - Checa.  Brown played an interesting sideline in the Slav against Checa, but even though both players avoided repetition multiple times, it still petered out to be a draw. Troff against Tang was a different affair. Troff came with a very aggressive line, which was known from the famous game played by Carlsen and Aronian. Tang tried to surprise Troff with the freeing move 9…g5!?, but Kayden Troff was irresistible, and won a model game. The hometown favorite Akshat Chandra, and the freshly-minted grandmaster Awonder Liang won their games fairly comfortably. In the Open Section, Liang, Chandra and Troff are in the lead, while in the Girls’ Section; Emily Nguyen and Agata Bykovtsev are sharing first place with one point each.    Follow the U.S Girls' Junior Championship  and U.S. Junior Championship live on ChessBomb